Referees Rick Randall, Rick Hartzell and Bert Smith might never have made a bigger and more important call than one they made collectively Tuesday afternoon.

At halftime of the Memphis-Belmont game, the referees ordered the removal of all corporate logos and stickers from the court at FexEx Forum.

A sticker showing a logo similar to this one was removed from the court in Memphis on Tuesday after Tigers guard Chris Crawford slipped.

Coaches and players have for years complained about the corporate logos placed on courts for special games and tournaments, saying the plastic overlays were slippery and dangerous. Still, TV and corporate executives continue to apply such logos to the floor with no regard to player safety.

In Friday night's Carrier Classic, Michigan State freshman Branden Dawson's season almost ended when he slipped on a center-court logo, awkwardly twisting his knee. Although he screamed in pain for several minutes, he was able to walk off the floor and even return later in the game.

“I would like to publicly announce the same thing Mike Krzyzewski did last year: We’ve got to get rid of those logos in the middle of the court,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Friday. “We have to. We can put logos on everywhere -- I’ll wear logos to support the people that sponsor us. But we have to get rid of them. It’s not about the coaches.

"It’s about the safety of the players.”

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon in Memphis. In a halfcourt set, Memphis reserve guard Chris Crawford, as the ball was swung from side to side, was skipping along the perimeter late in the first half. As he hit an EA Sports/Maui Invitational sticker between the center court and the 3-point line, Crawford went down in pain.

Like Dawson, Crawford's injury scare fortunately turned out not to be severe. Still, the referees had seen enough. The trio ordered FedEx Forum officials to remove all stickers from the playing surface.